And the birds fell silent
by candyblossom17
Summary: Just a short story, elaborating on the beginning of Peeta's crush on Katniss, Peeta's POV. This is my first story, please review:


And the birds fell silent…

I was standing in the front gates of our school, my hand held by my father. I was excited; it was my first day, my first experience outside of helping out at the bakery. I had only one person that I knew here and I was anxious to see her so that I could stop feeling so nervous. I spotted Delly's yellow hair in the crowd and saw that she was holding onto her mother's hand, just as tight as I was holding my father's. I started to walk in that direction, feeling my anxiety fade, and dragging my father along with me.

"Let's go dad!"

"Calm down Peeta!" he laughed seeing my enthusiasm. Suddenly he halted to a stop. I looked round to see what had caused this reaction and saw him staring at a little girl in the distance. She looked to be around my age, but I couldn't be sure, because she was very small in size. Her hair was black as night and tied by small red ribbons into two tiny braids. Her grey eyes were huge, and shining with excitement, but she looked just as nervous as I felt. She was wearing a red plaid dress, which was a little too big for her. She was beautiful. The tiny fingers of her hand were clenched tightly in the hand of a tall man who looked a lot like her.

"Peeta, see that little girl?"

I nodded

"I wanted to marry her mother, but she ran off with a coal miner."

This confused me. As a general rule, you did a lot better in town than you do at the Seam. I voiced my curiosity.

"A coal miner? Why did she want a coal miner if she could've had you?" My father hesitated before answering my question.

"Because when he sings… even the birds stop to listen."

I looked round to the man holding her hand. He looked like a nice man, a little skinny, but still strong. He had on a carefree smile.

"Oh look at that!" said my father suddenly, as though snapping out of a trance.

"It's time for you to go to your first class!"

We were all deposited into the classroom where a severe looking lady barked at us to sit on the ground in silence.

"Now", she started "I'm going to call the roll, when you hear your name, please yell clearly; 'Here!' got it?"

"Yes miss!" we all replied.

"Good."

As she called the names, I took note of some of my peers. There was a shy looking blond girl, who I recognized immediately as the mayor's daughter, her name was Madge Undersee. Of course, I already knew Delly Cartwright; she had been my best friend since we were in diapers. I was waiting for the girl in the red dress to yell 'here' so that I could learn her name.

"Katniss Everdeen." Said the teacher.

"Here!" The girl yelled at last.

'Katniss Everdeen.' I repeated in my mind.

"Peeta Mellark."

The teacher read my name but I was too lost in thought to hear it.

"Peeta Mellark!" she repeated again, louder this time. I came back to reality to find the teacher glaring around the room.

"H-here." I said quietly. Almost everyone's head turned around to look at me. I could feel the blush spreading over my cheeks as the teacher finished the roll.

"Okay today we are going to go to music assembly first, I am not your music teacher, another teacher will take you once you get there."

'Thank goodness for that' I thought to myself.

"Okay, stand up in two straight lines, and let's go to the music room."

We all lined up in a boys line and a girls line, and the teacher led us out of the classroom. She led us through the hallways and finally left us outside a door after knocking on it. As soon as she was out of sight we began whispering to each other. I turned to Delly right away, forgetting about Katniss for a minute.

"What do you think Delly? I think that teacher is a little mean" I whispered, scared that she would come back and shout at me.

"Oh I'm sure she's alright Peeta, she's probably just nervous about meeting us for the first time." Delly was probably right. She always knew how to make me feel better. Just then the door opened, and a lady with blond hair and blue eyes came out to greet us.

"Hello everyone! I'm teacher Sarah! Come on inside." The sight of a smiling face put me at ease and I walked inside the classroom. I sat at the back of the class, so that I could have a clear view of the window, Delly sat with me. I could just see a little bird hovering on the branch of a tree near the window, chirping joyfully.

"Today we are going to be doing a little bit of singing." Suddenly I was nervous again; I did not like to sing in front of other people.

"Now, who knows the valley song?" The teacher asked kindly. Suddenly a tiny hand shot up into the air. It belonged to Katniss. The teacher smiled at her.

"Do you want to come up and sing it for us?" Teacher Sarah asked her.

"Yes please!" She said excitedly. Katniss walked to the front of the classroom.

"And what's your name?"

"Katniss Everdeen," She said proudly.

"Whenever you're ready Katniss."

Then Katniss began singing, and my mind went blank. Her high, clear voice filled the classroom with such joy, that I almost wept on the spot. Her lips formed perfectly around every note and her eyes were closed with the pleasure that the music sent her. I felt as if every note soaked through my skin, touching my heart with the warmth of sunshine in the summer. In that moment, nobody existed except this girl, Katniss Everdeen. Outside, the little bird fell silent...


End file.
